Miss Agnes Wild, 21, of Paterson, New Jersey, United States, was a British national traveling on Lusitania with her sister Evelyn. Both sisters survived the sinking and Evelyn later testified at the Mersey Inquiry. The sisters’ cabin on board Lusitania was D-89.
The following is from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Monday 10 May 1915, page 2:
The Misses Agnes and Evelyn Wild, sisters of Paterson, N.J., were at luncheon when the torpedo struck the vessel. They rushed on deck. Agnes said:
Sisters Cling to Each Other in Fear“We clung to each other, determined not to be separated even if we went to the bottom. We were at once thrown into a boat, together with thirty-six others. We were, after several hours, picked up by a fishing boat and four fisherman towed us for several hours, intending to take us to Kinsale. Before we arrived, however, a government boat [Stormcock] picked us up and took us to Queenstown.
“Of course, we were drenched to the skin, cold and penniless. We went into a shop, where they fitted us out from head to foot without charge. We are only beginning to realize what we have passed through.”
Agnes married a man by the name of Stewart. On 30 May 1950, Agnes passed away at age 56 in Paterson, New Jersey, just a few months after Evelyn. Both sisters are buried in Mt. Laurel Cemetery in New Jersey.
Contributors:
Paul Latimer
Michael Poirier
References:
“Sisters Cling to Each Other in Fear.” Cleveland Plain Dealer, Monday 10 May 1915, page 2.
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